by J. , Lea
“Oooh, I’m shaking in my pants,” he says sarcastically, and shaking his arms, he outbids me again. “What if I don’t stop?” He crosses his arms across his chest and waits for my response.
“You don’t want to know. Cut it out or you’ll be sorry!”
“Fine,” he approaches me so we’re standing side by side, “but not because of your silly threats, but because I’m bored and will get my own revenge on the basketball court, rather than here. You can have your little whore.” He barely finishes the last sentence when my arm is already in the air, and I smack him hard in the face. He is on the floor in an instant, wiping his bloody nose. Jackson, Noah and Marc hurry to my side and hold me back, so I wouldn’t hit him again.
“Don’t let me hear you say one bad thing about Aaliyah. Leave her alone.” Ethan just spits on the floor, gives me a nasty look and gets up.
“I’ll see you on court,” is all he says before he leaves. Aaliyah runs to me and hugs me.
“What was that about?” I’m still angrily watching him leave, but my eyes soften the second they land on her.
“It’s nothing, we just had a misunderstanding.”
The remainder of the night is uneventful and the room is slowly emptying, so we decide to leave. Addison goes home with Jackson and Aaliyah and I go to her room.
Chapter 17
Aaliyah
We are walking quietly in the hallway so we wouldn’t wake up the other students. My feet are hurting from the high heels and I can’t wait to take them off. Ryder closes the door after us, loosens his tie and takes off his jacket. We turn to each other. “Thank you for the wonderful evening, I had a great time.” He hugs me around the hips, pulls the dress up to my thighs and lifts me in his arms.
“That’s good, because I intend to make the evening even better.” He barely finishes the sentence before he presses his lips to my neck and I tilt my head to give him better access. He puts me down by the bed and helps me get out of the dress. I slowly slide it down my body and the whole time I’m looking him in the eyes. When I’m standing before him completely naked, his eyes widen in surprise as he examines me from head to toe, oozing with lust and licking his lips. “I can’t believe you didn’t wear anything under that dress. If I knew that, we wouldn’t have stayed at the ball for so long.” I give him a seductive look, one eyebrow raised.
“You like what you see?”
“Like? That’s too mild of an expression. My eyes are devouring you, I can never get enough of you.” He gently pushes me back and I land on my back on the bed, and he’s on top of me in less than a second. “I can’t believe you’re finally mine.” He kisses my bellybutton and raises his gaze again. “I want you, now,” he says, kissing me higher, under the swell of my breasts. His nose grazes my nipple, and then the other one, and then I finally feel his warm lips on them. He expertly sucks and nibbles them. “You’re so very beautiful,” he says, before our lips meet. His muscular body presses down on me, his surprisingly hard dick against my belly. I reach down to his pants, never breaking our kiss, unzip them and quickly pull them of. I touch him through his boxers and he groans in pleasure. The place between my legs starts tingling and I soon feel Ryder slide two fingers inside me. “You’re so wet, Aaliyah.” I grip the sheets as his thumb slides over my swollen clit. I shout his name in pleasure, and a second later I explode under his skillful fingers. Before I can fully regain all my senses, our bodies merge into one.
~ * ~
I can’t believe life could be so wonderful. Ryder and I get along great, I’m doing well in my job, I successfully passed a few exams, and Caden stopped calling me. What more could I want? Christmas break is coming up soon and Ryder and I decided to spend it together. He invited me to a ski trip with his sister and Jackson. Even though I’ve never skied in my life, I am looking forward to it. He promised to teach me, and truth be told, I am eagerly awaiting our lessons. But first, I have to survive the two weeks of exams.
I’m in the middle of studying, a pile of books open on the desk. I have three more exams to pass and then officially, the Christmas break will start. Addison is in a similar position on the other side of the room. My phone beeps and interrupts my studying. I check the time, it’s 5 p.m. I open the text message and a grin appears on my face when I see it’s Ryder.
Ryder: Hey, baby, I have a surprise for you. Hurry over to my place, so I can show it to you.
I quickly close the books and put them away, grab my purse and call a cab.
“Where are you going?” Addison asks in surprise, because she knows I wouldn’t just storm out without a reason.
“Ryder wants me to come over, he has something to show me.” She laughs cheerfully and nods.
“Yeah, I thought it was something like that. Well, don’t be too late, you know you have to study.” I nod.
“Yes, mother,” I say mockingly and open the door.
“Have fun,” she winks at me before I leave.
It’s raining heavily, like it hasn’t rained for a long time and there are very few cars on the road. During the drive I’m staring at the ugly grey sky. It’s pretty dark outside and not pleasant to be out during this downpour. I carefully step out of the cab and run up the driveway to Ryder’s house, careful not to step into a puddle. I forgot my umbrella at home, but I don’t need it for these few feet to his house. I see the guys through the window, sitting in the living room, but Ryder is not with them. I ring the bell and take a step back, butterflies in my stomach. Marc opens the door and I can see from his expression that he’s surprised to see me.
“Oh, Aaliyah, what are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting you until later.” I shrug.
“Hey, Marc.” I give him a smile. “Ryder sent me a message. Is he in his room?” He nods, and I don’t lose time. I quickly run up the stairs to his room and, not bothering to knock, open the door. I am greeted by the smell of roses. Rose petals are sprinkled around the room and unlit candles cover every surface. Before I can get excited that Ryder prepared this surprise for me, my gaze falls on his bed. The air is knocked out of my lungs, I start shaking and I suddenly feel faint. I hold on to the doorpost and stare blankly at Ryder sitting on his bed in only his boxers, and Paris, dressed in skinny jeans and a tight shirt, is climbing all over him. She is straddling him, kissing him. A shocked gasp leaves my throat and I shake my head. A tear rolls down my cheek. Ryder and Paris look at me, a satisfied smirk on her face, and Ryder looks like he’s about to faint. He shoves Paris off him and runs to me.
“I can’t believe you did this to me. I trusted you. How could you do this? And I, a fool, loved you. I was in love with you.” Raising my arms high in the air, I let them fall back down, upset. I turn around to run, anywhere, so I wouldn’t have to be near him, but he grabs my hand.
“Baby, it’s not what it looks like.” I snort and laugh sarcastically.
“Oh, really? Then what does it look like? Apparently my eyesight is not that good anymore, explain then,” I hiss angrily. Another tear falls down my cheek and I close my eyes when he starts to speak, but I raise my hand and stop him. “You know what, you don’t have to explain anything. I won’t listen to your lies, it’s over between us. I hope she was worth it.” His face goes pale and he looks at me with a shocked expression as I turn around and run down the stairs into the cold and rainy street.
Ryder
What just happened? Completely shocked, I stand in the doorway as Aaliyah storms out of the front door. Paris licks her lips and sits on my bed. How could my surprise for Aaliyah turn into such a nightmare? I decided to surprise her tonight, so I sprinkled rose petals on the floor, bed and other furniture and brought some candles from the attic to light before she arrives. She had no idea I was planning a surprise for her, when I prepared everything. I meant to call her and ask her to stop by. I would wait for her on the bed, a bouquet of roses in my hands, and hug her tightly. I finally wanted to tell her that I am in love with her, that I love her with all my heart, and later also show her. Bu
t now it all fell to pieces. Paris stopped by just as I was about to hit the shower. She came to ask me to lend her some textbook, because she forgot hers in school, and she had to write a paper, and needed that textbook. I showed her where she could find it, and told her I was going to take a shower. When I returned to the room, she was still there, sitting on my bed.
“Do you need anything else?” I asked in surprise, while searching for a clean shirt in the drawer. She quietly approached me and pushed me gently on the bed so I sat down. “What is happening? What are you doing?” I asked right before she sat in my lap and started kissing me. Just as I was about to push her away and ask her what is wrong with her, because she knows I am in a relationship, the door opened and Aaliyah was just standing there, completely crushed, her face ashen pale. I looked at Paris and me, and then it dawned on me how it must all look to Aaliyah. Like we were about to have sex. Disgusted, I pushed Paris away and ran to Aaliyah to try to explain, but she wouldn’t listen to me. My heart was breaking as she was standing by the door, teary-eyed and disappointed.
“What is wrong with you?” I angrily stalk toward Paris and raise my voice. “Why did you do that? You know I love Aaliyah!” I see disgust on her face when she hears Aaliyah’s name. She moves closer and puts her hands on my chest. I shove them away and take a few steps back. Turning around, I angrily run my fingers through my hair. “Speak!” I demand. She jumps and takes a couple of steps forward.
“I’m sorry,” she says and looks to the floor, “I still love you, and I wanted to convince you you’re still in love with me, too. Just a few kisses and you would realize Aaliyah was a mistake.” I clench my fists and turn away from her. I need to take some deep breaths to calm myself, so I don’t hit her—I don’t hit women.
“I can’t believe it. It’s like I don’t know you at all. We both agreed it’s best if we break up because there was no spark in our relationship anymore. And Aaliyah was never a mistake. She is the best thing that ever happened to me, and it’s your fault I don’t even know if she will still want to be with me.”
“Ry, honey…” she approaches and wants to put her hand on my cheek.
“Stay away from me, don’t come closer,” I grab her hand to prevent her from touching me.
“Ry, honey,” she repeats, “I love you, I just wanted to be with you. I thought if I got rid of Aaliyah, you’d be mine again.” My eyes widen incredulously and I look at her.
“What do you mean, get rid of her? What did you do?” She drops her head and doesn’t respond. “Tell me!” I demand. She is startled by my harsh voice and she gives me a look, full of tears.
“I’m sorry, I just wanted to prove to you that you still have feelings for me.”
“What…did…you…do?” I stress each word sharply and come really close to her. Tears are streaming down her cheeks. “TELL ME!” I yell and she jumps.
“I sent her a message from your phone that you were waiting for her with a surprise.” I clap a hand to my head and shake it. That is why Aaliyah was early. I sit down, put my head between my knees and just sit there. “Ryder?” Paris moves closer. I’ve never been so angry in my life.
“Get the fuck out of here, I never want to see you again!” Rage is boiling inside me and it won’t let go.
“Ry, please…” Paris says desperately.
“Out! I don’t want to see your face again. You ruined my life.” I push her out the door and slam it shut. I slam my fist into the wall so hard, blood starts running down my knuckles. Anger is replaced by pain, not the pain in my hand, but the one in my heart. I lost Aaliyah, probably for good.
Aaliyah
I am walking in heavy rain, numb. I was so shocked I couldn’t call a cab, so I decided to walk home. I don’t even feel the rain falling down on me, all I feel is unbearable pain in my heart. I don’t know if it will ever let go. How could he do this to me? I thought we had something special. I can’t believe I opened my heart to him, but he just took it and crushed it. And he had to do it with Paris.
After a good hour of walking in the rain I finally get to my room, soaked to my bones. No, I didn’t go straight home, I had to get away from everybody and be alone for some time. I am shaking from the cold and the wet clothes, but I am still numb with the pain he inflicted on me. I enter the room, put down my purse and sit down. Addison is by my side in a second, surprised to see me home already, and soaked.
“What happened to you? You look terrible.” I am silently sitting on the bed, staring blankly ahead, not bothering to respond. “Are you okay?” She kneels by my side and looks me in the eyes, but my gaze is still blank and I’m looking past her into unknown. “What is wrong?” I don’t answer, so she breaks the silence. “Let’s get you out of these wet clothes.” She helps me change, and I’m still silent. I pull a long shirt over my head, climb into the bed, turn to the wall and cover myself up. Addison brings me tea, but I don't touch it. I’ve never felt so alone in my life. I close my eyes and I soon fall asleep from exhaustion.
“Ow, my head is going to explode,” I say as I wake up and sit up in bed.
“Morning,” Addison says carefully. Memories of yesterday hit me with full force and I feel sick to my stomach again. I look at Addison, and I feel sorry for ignoring her yesterday.
“Hey,” I give her a bitter smile.
“Want to talk?” Addison asks me hesitantly. I shake my head. “What happened?” Huh, so much for not wanting to talk. I close my eyes and look away. “Ryder called and asked me if you arrived home safely. What happened? His voice was desperate and it sounded like he was crying. He never cries. Did you guys have a fight?” I snort and let out a sarcastic laugh.
“A fight, yeah right, that’s not the right word. We broke up.” She covers her mouth with her hands and gives me a sad look.
“How? Why? I mean, I’m a little confused—you looked so happy together, and now you are broken up. What happened?” A tear rolls down my cheek.
“Ask Ryder or Paris, I’m sure they could explain,” I say harshly. I immediately regret using that tone, but the pain is still fresh and I’m not in the mood to talk. “Look, I’m sorry, I don`t want to be rude, but I really don’t want to talk right now. I just want to go back to sleep.”
“I don’t like seeing you like this, please, you can trust me.” I take a deep breath, and because it is so hard to have all the anger and pain bottled up inside me, I indulge her and tell her everything that happened.
“What a bitch!” she exclaims when I finish. “I can’t believe she did this.” She’s waving her arms in the air, completely shocked.
“It’s not just her fault. Ryder had his hands on her and she was kissing him. If he didn’t want that, he would have pushed her away and told her off.” She is still shaking her head.
“I can’t believe Ryder would do something like that. He is not like that. What did he say when you caught them?” I sigh, closing my eyes.
“Nothing. I didn’t let him speak, I just stormed out. I couldn’t look them in the eye, I was so disgusted. God, I feel so…so… I don’t know. You know how it’s like when you’re in love. I finally tore down the walls around me I spent so many years putting up and opened my heart to love, and in the end I was humiliated. Why does love make you so vulnerable? I gave him my heart, and he stepped on it and crushed it into a million pieces. I put up the walls as an impenetrable shield so nothing would hurt me and then I met him. He came into my life so unexpectedly and helped me make sense of my chaotic life. I gave him a part of me – heck, I gave him the whole me.” I’m crying, my head in my hands, and Addison is quietly stroking my back. She knows I cannot be consoled. How did this happen to me? I didn’t ask for it, but his smile and our first kiss seduced me so much I wasn’t myself. Love took me hostage and now it hurts. It hurts so much and it’s a horrible feeling. “Ugh, I hate love.”
Chapter 18
Aaliyah
It’s been a week since I caught Ryder and Paris together. The pain in my chest is still unbeara
ble, but I’m trying to live with it. The first few days, I didn’t even leave the room, because I was afraid to run into him. To pass the time, I studied, I only went to class when I had to take an exam, and I told Patrick I was sick. I don’t know if I’ll be ever able to get rid of the pain that overwhelms me, but I’ll try each day to make it a little better. Everybody already knows Ryder and I broke up, and the feeling of being watched on the street, people whispering ‘that’s her’, is horrible. Noah called me this morning and offered to pick me up because we are working together tonight. I happily accepted. Any company is great, just so I don’t think about him. My relationship with Noah is slowly returning to normal. I still sometimes catch him watching me dreamily, but he knows we can’t be anything more than friends. Ryder’s calls won’t stop. He sent me a billion messages, but I instantly deleted them. It hurts too much to read what he wrote. I don’t answer his calls, because I’m afraid if I heard his velvety voice I would break down in a second. I miss him, I admit, he has become an important part of my life, but I can’t forgive him for cheating on me.
“Hey, how are you?” Noah gives me a sympathetic look as I sit in the car and put on the seatbelt. I smile bitterly.
“Okay, not that I have any other choice.” We drive to Mirage in silence and head toward the back part of the club to get ready, both deep in thought. Today is Saturday and it’s karaoke night. There are a lot of people coming again and this is great, because I’ll be able to forget about him for a few hours. I can’t even pronounce his name anymore, that’s how much he hurt me.
“Hi, Aaliyah,” I raise my gaze, Addison’s voice surprising me.
“Oh, hey, what are you doing here? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t be coming tonight?” She shrugs.